Fastening Driving Tool with Pivotally Mounted Magazine and Magazine Therefor

ABSTRACT

The apparatus comprises of a barrel and means ( 3, 5 ) of driving a fastening element in the barrel, a handle ( 9 ) which includes means ( 25, 33 ) for receiving a removable feed magazine ( 4 ) for fastening elements, in which the forward part ( 3 ) of the apparatus is arranged to cooperate with a feed end ( 55 ) of the magazine ( 4 ) and to ensure that a fastening element is transferred from the magazine ( 4 ) into the barrel ( 1 ), with the free end ( 33 ) of the handle ( 9 ) away from the barrel being arranged so that the other loading end ( 54 ) of the magazine ( 4 ) may be secured thereto. The free end ( 33 ) of the handle ( 9 ) carries a fixing rod ( 47 ) for the aforementioned loading end ( 54 ) of the magazine ( 4 ), with the rod ( 47 ) being fitted so that it pivots and alters the relative position of the free end of the handle ( 33 ) and of the loading end ( 54 ) of the magazine. There is compensation for all dimensional tolerances thanks to this invention.

This invention is in the field of fixing equipment, in particularequipment that uses gas or internal combustion motors. This equipmentoperates using the principle of an explosion of an inflammable mixtureof gas and air in the motor combustion chamber (formed in part by acylinder, a cylinder barrel and a cylinder head) to propel a piston fordriving a fastening element.

The motor is fitted inside a casing.

The casing is fitted inside two shells of a handle, and to the front andrear of which are fitted a handle with a housing for holding a batteryto provide electrical power and a means of fitting a removable feedermagazine for the fastening elements. More precisely, to the rear, themotor cylinder head, the casing and the shells of the handle are fittedtogether using the same bolts.

When the inflammable mixture in the combustion chamber is pressurised, aforce directed towards the rear acts on the cylinder head and thereforeon the casing to which it is connected.

Conversely, when under the action of the explosion the piston ispropelled forwards, it comes to a stop against a damper which isconnected to the cylinder. A force which is directed forwards then actson the cylinder and on the casing to which it is connected.

In brief, the casing which is generally made from a plastic material, issubjected to high levels of compression stress, up to 60% of all thestresses.

The casing for gas powered fixing equipment already acts as an elasticdamper since it manages to stretch a little.

The applicant has realised that the casing will deform where this occursmost readily, that is, at the front of the equipment.

The magazine therefore must be firmly fixed to the nose ormuzzle-bushing of the apparatus in order to maintain a proper supply ofthe fastening elements. If, however, the front of the apparatus moves(under the action of the forward part of the casing) relative to therest of the apparatus and the supply end (or output end) of thefastening element magazine moves with it, whilst the other loading end(or input end) of the magazine remains firmly fixed to the handle, thesupply of fastening elements into the muzzle bushing of the apparatusmay not be correctly performed.

This is one of the reasons which have led the applicant to put forwardits invention. There is at least one other reason.

In gas powered fixing apparatus there are quite a high number of longcomponents. Even if the manufacturing tolerances are met, cumulativedimensional errors, which are individually tolerable, may either resultin assembly difficulties or even in operating problems after assembly.The applicant has therefore also sought to ensure that there iscompensation for the dimensions involved.

It should be noted that although the invention has been conceived fromproblems observed in gas powered equipment, there is no reason not toextend it to other types of apparatus such as equipment driven by powderor pneumatic equipment.

The invention therefore involves, in the first place, apparatus forfixing of fastening elements, comprising a barrel and means of driving afastening element inside the barrel, a handle containing means forreceiving a removable magazine for fastening elements, with the front ofthe apparatus being arranged so as to cooperate with the feed end of themagazine and to ensure the transfer of a fastening element from themagazine into the barrel, with the free end of the handle, away from thebarrel, being arranged so that the other loading end of the magazine maybe fixed thereto, the apparatus being characterised by the fact that theaforementioned free end of the handle carries a fixing rod for theaforementioned loading end of the magazine, with the rod being mountedso that it can pivot and alter the relative position of the free end ofthe handle and of the loading end of the magazine.

Thus, if the front of the apparatus moves, it can carry with it the feedend of the magazine, since this can also carry with it the other(loading) end of the magazine. In addition, the freedom of the loadingend of the magazine to move on the handle of the equipment means thatdimensional compensation can be carried out on assembly.

The rod is preferably to be mounted so as to pivot against the action ofreturn means.

It is an advantage if the magazine fixing rod on the free end of thehandle is cylindrical and mounted so that it pivots around a point onits axis.

The rod is preferably mounted in a ball and socket joint fitted in thehandle of the equipment.

In this case the socket is preferably mounted in an elastic returnsleeve.

The rod may be threaded and bear at its threaded end a thumb wheel fortightening the magazine, preferably through a head on the rod that isarranged so that it comes to rest against the magazine and tightens itagainst the handle.

In the preferred form of construction for the apparatus of theinvention, the free end of the handle includes an inclined face arrangedso that it cooperates with another inclined face on the magazine. Ittherefore forms a wedge and moves the magazine to the front of theapparatus so that the feed end is placed against the barrel.

In the case where the fixing rod crosses both inclined faces and has atightening thumb wheel, this thumb wheel also carries out a pushingfunction.

The invention also involves a removable feed magazine for fasteningelements for the apparatus of the invention, characterised by the factthat it includes means for receiving the fixing rod, with this meansacting as a support for a head of the fixing rod and a structure shapedto provide an inclined face which cooperates with an inclined face inthe handle of the apparatus to form a wedge and which moves the magazinetowards the front of the apparatus to push its feed end against thebarrel of the apparatus.

The invention will be better understood using the following descriptionwhilst referring to the appended drawing, in which

FIG. 1 is a top rear exploded perspective view of the apparatus of theinvention and of the fastening element feed magazine;

FIG. 2 is a bottom exploded front perspective view of the apparatus andmagazine in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view that slightly behind the casingand the shells of the handle of the apparatus;

FIG. 4 is a transverse section of the handle of the apparatus and of themagazine in FIGS. 1 and 2 and

FIG. 5 is a longitudinal section of the handle of the apparatus and ofthe magazine in the previous figures.

The fastening apparatus now to be described will be in its internalcombustion motor form, which is the preferred form, but which impliesabsolutely no limitations on the invention.

The fastening apparatus included here therefore has an internalcombustion motor, well known throughout the profession and designed todrive a fastening element inside barrel 1 in the apparatus along axis 2through the nose or muzzle-bushing 3 of the apparatus into which thebarrel extends, with the fastening element having previously beentransferred into the barrel 1 from the feed magazine 4.

The drive motor for the apparatus is fitted in a casing, the rear ofwhich is closed off by a ventilation block 6 and the two shells 7, 8 ofhandle 9.

Four fixing bolts 10-13 fix together the rear part 14 of casing 5, theblock 6 and the handle shells 7, 8.

The handle shells are each made up of a cut-out framework 15 (16)designed to be pushed against a lateral surface 17 (18) of the casingand at the rear a half-clamp 19 (20) which completes the rear enclosureof the casing 5 by means of the two half-clamps connected by a tongueand groove to form a fixing sleeve 21. Each handle shell is extended tothe rear by means of a component of the handle itself 22 (23) and to thefront by a structure 24 for housing an electrical supply battery and bya support structure 25 for the fastening element magazine 4.

The motor is therefore fitted in the casing 5 which is mounted in theassembly formed by the two shells 7, 8 of the handle 9 to which it isfitted at the rear by bolts 10-13.

On their interior surface 26, in the lower section close to the handle22, 23, the flanges of the shells 15,16 possess, from the same moulds,small annular oblong channels, one 27 at the rear and one 28 at thefront. In FIG. 3, only the internal surface and the channels in leftflange 16 can be seen. As has already been stated, the fasteningapparatus has a plane of symmetry passing through axis 2.

In the positions corresponding to those of channels 27, 28, the lateralwalls 17, 18 of the casing 5 (at the lower part, therefore to the frontand rear) also possess, from the same mould, small annular channels 29,30. These are also of oblong cross-section and are intended, by means ofthe common sleeving, to act mortises and tenons with the channels 27, 28of the flanges of shells 15, 16. In FIG. 3, only channels 29, 30 of thelateral wall 17 of casing 5 can be seen. The rear tenons and mortises29, 27 which have effectively the same internal and externalcross-section must fit fully one inside the other. On the other hand,the front mortises and tenons 30, 28 must fit slightly one inside theother due to their transverse dimensions, but not their dimensionsparallel to axis 2. In other terms, the axial external length of tenons30 of the front part 51 of casing 5 is noticeably shorter than theinternal axial length of mortises 28 precisely to allow the axialsliding of the tenons in the mortises.

Naturally, the respective arrangements of mortises and tenons may bereversed, with the tenons coming out of the handle shell mould. In allcases, the front tenons are shorter than the front mortises.

The annular front walls 31 and rear walls 32 of the frontmortise-channels 28 make up the front and rear end-stop components forthe front tenons 30 in the casing.

Thus the front part 51 of the casing is a floating fit in the handle 7-9and can be made to slide inside it in a direction which is parallel tothe drive axis 2 for the fastening elements.

This is one of the reasons for the particular arrangement of the freeend of handle 9 and of the feed end of the magazine 4, which will now bedescribed, after a reminder that the compensation for the assemblydimensions of the apparatus was also at the origin of such anarrangement.

At the free end 33 of the handle 9, away from the barrel 1 and nose 3 ofthe apparatus, the shells 22, 23 joined together by bolts 34, 35 areshaped internally to take a spherical housing 36, with one part of thespherical surface in shell 22 and another part of the spherical surfacein shell 23.

The spherical housing 36 opens onto the external surface 37 of shell 22and to external surface 38 of shell 23 through two conical openings 39,40, the usefulness of which will soon become apparent. The sphericalhousing 36 extends through a tubular hollow 41 along axis 42,perpendicular to surfaces 37, 38 of the shells of the handles, and whichpasses through the centre of the housing sphere. Its axial length issmaller than the diameter of housing 36, in the case in point, between athird and a quarter of this diameter, and its diameter is slightlylarger than that of the sphere in housing 36, in the case in point,about a quarter more.

Housing 36 is holds a ball and socket joint 43 with a through tappedhole 44 crossing axis 42, at rest, and extending along the same axis 42at rest, and which extends along axis 42 still at rest by means of twosmall tubular sections 45, 46 which are crossed by the threaded hole 44and which emerge from the two shells 22, 23 through the conical openings39 and 40.

The tubular extensions 45, 46 of ball and socket joint 43 have anexternal diameter that is slightly less than the small internal diameterof the conical openings 39, 40 with the tubular section 45, protrudingoutside the shell 22 being axially slightly longer than the othertubular section 46 opposite. The small tubular section 46 protrudingoutside the handle shell 23 is designed to fit inside a correspondinghollow in the magazine. A fixing rod 47, here cylindrical, extends intothe threaded hole 44. The rod 47 carries at one end a support head 48,with its other end 49 being threaded. Onto the threaded end 49 of therod 47 is screwed a threaded thumb-wheel which also fits into thetubular part 45 of the joint 43 up to an internal back face 51.

When the thumb-wheel 50 is screwed onto the threaded rod 47, with thethumb-wheel against the end face 51 against the tubular part 45 of joint43, the thumb-wheel constrains the rod by moving the handle shells 22,23 along axis 42 towards the head 48 and tightens, as will be seenbelow, the end of magazine 4 against the end face of the tubular portion46 of joint 43.

The removable magazine 4 is also made of two shells 52, 52 between which(in a standard manner which is widely known in the trade) is introduced,through a loading end 54, a strip of fixing elements which will then betransferred one at a time through a feed end 55 of the magazine into thebarrel 1 of the equipment which is thus fed with fastening elements(here nails).

It is in shell 52 of the magazine that the hollow 56 for receiving thetubular portion 46 of joint 43 is fitted. The head 48 of the rod isdesigned to be fitted in an opening in shell 53 of the magazine in order(under the action of thumb-wheel 50 and of the traction caused byscrewing it in) that it comes against shell 52 and so tightens themagazine 4 onto the handle 9.

The magazine 4 is fitted onto handle 9 as follows.

After thumbscrew 50 and rod 47 at end 33 of the handle are withdrawn,the magazine is held flat against support structure 25 of the handlewhilst its feed end 55 is held against the nose 3 of the apparatus in aperfectly standard manner.

The loading end 54 of magazine 4 is held flat against surface 38 of thehandle shell 23 by fitting the tubular portion 46 of the joint 43 intothe hollow 56 in the shell of magazine 52. The rod 47 is then slid intoopening 57 in the shell 53 of the magazine and through a collar 58fitted in shell 52 before it is inserted into the threaded hole 44,until its head 48 meets wall 59 of the collar 58 and the threadedportion 49 emerges from the tubular portion 45 of joint 43. Thethumb-wheel 50 is then screwed onto the threaded end 49 of rod 47 totighten the head of the rod 48 against the shell of the magazine 52.This therefore tightens magazine 4 against the handle 9, and moreprecisely, against the end face of the tubular section 46 of the joint43 whilst the thumbwheel is fitted onto the tubular portion 45. Inaddition, the thumb-wheel can be fixed to the joint.

In the annular housing 41 there is a small sleeve 60, made ofelastomeric material which is compressible and elastic, which is alsopartly housed in a peripheral tubular hollow 61, along axis 42 at rest,fitted in the joint 43. The sleeve is therefore fixed solidly to thejoint and may be compressed depending on the alignment of the joint.

The tubular portion 46 which extends joint 43 from the magazine side iswedged to offer an inclined face 62 which is inclined in a clockwisedirection on a transverse plane of the handle perpendicular to thesupport structure 25, effectively parallel to axis 2 of the apparatusand containing axis 42 (the plane in FIG. 4) the inclination of which isdetermined in a longitudinal plane of the handle (the plane in FIG. 5).The magazine shell 52 is shaped in a corresponding manner to present inopening 57 a face 63 which is inclined in the same manner and whichcooperates with the inclined face 62 of the joint and so acts as awedge. The two inclined faces 62, 63 are crossed by the fixing rod 47.

If because of the advance of the nose 3 of the apparatus during firingor because of the dimensions of the various components of the equipment,the feed end 55 of magazine 4 is not held fully against the barrel 1 andthe nose 3 of the apparatus, tightening thumb-wheel 50 onto the threadedrod 47 will cause the two inclined faces to slide against each other,that is, magazine 4 on handle 9, to move the magazine towards the noseand correct the placement of the magazine against the nose of theapparatus. The relative position of the free ends of handle 33 and ofthe loading end 54 of the magazine are thus altered. This slidingmovement is possible because rod 47 which is embedded in joint 43 maypivot or rock around a point on its axis thanks to joint 43 which canrotate in its housing 36 and compress the elastomeric tubular insert 60.Rod 47 is thus articulated inside the joint 43 in the handle 9.

It will be noted that the rotation of joint 43 is also possible due tothe conical openings 39, 40 which allow tubular sections 45, 46 to pivotduring rotation of the joint.

The advantage to be obtained from fitting the joint in a compressibleand elastic sleeve is that it softens the wedge effect and provides ameans of returning the joint to its at-rest position for assembly anddisassembly of the apparatus.

Finally, the use of a larger capacity (and therefore longer) loadercould be foreseen. In this case the rear fixing point of the loadercould no longer be at its loading end, but at a point located in themiddle section.

1-16. (canceled)
 17. Apparatus for fixing fastening elements, comprisinga barrel and means for driving a fastening element in the barrel, ahandle containing means for receiving a removable magazine for feedingthe fastening elements, with the forward part of the apparatus beingarranged so that is cooperates with a supply end of the magazine andensures that a fastening element is transferred from the magazine intothe barrel, with the free end of the handle away from the barrel beingarranged so that the other loading end of magazine is fixed thereto, theapparatus being characterized by the fact that the aforementioned freeend of the handle carries a rod for fixing the aforementioned loadingend of the magazine, with the rod being mounted so that it pivots andalters the relative position of the free end of the handle and of theloading end of the magazine.
 18. Apparatus as claimed in claim 17, inwhich the fixing rod is mounted so that it pivots against the action ofreturn means.
 19. Apparatus as claimed in claim 18, in which the fixingrod is cylindrical and is mounted so that it is articulated around apoint on its axis.
 20. Apparatus as claimed in claim 17, in which thefixing rod is fitted in a ball and socket joint fitted in the handle ofthe equipment.
 21. Apparatus as claimed in claim 20, in which the balland socket joint is mounted in an elastic return sleeve.
 22. Apparatusas claimed in claim 17, in which the fixing rod includes a threaded endwhich carries a thumb-wheel for tightening the magazine.
 23. Apparatusas claimed in claim 17, in which the fixing rod comprises a headarranged for abutting against the magazine and tightening it against thehandle.
 24. Apparatus as claimed in claim 17, and in which the free endof the handle comprises an inclined face arranged so that it cooperateswith another inclined face on the magazine and acts as a wedge and movesthe magazine towards the front of the apparatus so that it pushes itsfeed end against the barrel of the apparatus.
 25. Apparatus as claimedin claim 20, in which the ball and socket joint extends as two tubularsections to emerge from the handle through conical openings. 26.Apparatus as claimed in claim 25, in which the fixing rod extends into abore created in the joint and its tubular extensions.
 27. Apparatus asclaimed in claim 25, in which one of the tubular extensions of the jointextends towards the magazine and contains an inclined face arranged toact in conjunction with another inclined face on the magazine, to act asa wedge and move the magazine towards the front of the apparatus forpushing its feed end against the barrel of the apparatus.
 28. Apparatusas claimed in claim 17, in which the fixing rod has a threaded endfitted with a thumbwheel for tightening and pushing the magazine. 29.Apparatus as claimed in claim 18, in which the tightening and pushingthumb-wheel is fitted over one of the tubular extensions of the joint upto an internal bottom.
 30. Apparatus as claimed in claim 17, in which aninternal combustion motor casing is provided to be fitted in the handleand fixed to it at the rear, the front of the casing being float-fittedinside the handle so that is may slide along the axis in which thefixing elements are driven.
 31. Removable feed magazine for feeding offastening elements for the apparatus of claim 17, characterized by thefact that it includes means for receiving a fixing rod and means ofproviding support for a head of the fixing rod.
 32. Feed magazine asclaimed in claim 31, in which a structure is provided which is shaped topresent an inclined face to cooperate with an inclined face of thehandle of the apparatus, to act as a wedge and move the magazine towardsthe front of the apparatus so that its feed end is pushed against thebarrel of the apparatus.